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30 August 2009

Its a slow steady pull, the warm scrape of the needles as they pass over one another in their work. The room is dim, quiet and secluded, far from everything that has dominated all my thoughts for the past few months. My mind reaches out greedily for the peace it offers, working to fill in the open spaces that are aching with worry and fatigue.

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (You can view Year One of the project here and the gallery for this year here.)

26 August 2009

Ok, my list of things to pack is starting to rival an epic novel. Since Fabrications runs for five days this year and I'm going up a day early and staying a day later, that means it stands to reason that I'll have some down time in there.

I've been missing my knitting in a crazy kind of way but I don't want to work on anything super complicated. I'm taking my Noro scarf (that yes is still not done, don't look at me in such a tone) but have the itch to cast on ten new projects all at the same time...

23 August 2009

Work has pretty well sucked my soul out so that's why the blog has been dim for a while now. I have five more days to endure and then I get to flee to the Fabrications Retreat where I shall make art and laugh stupidly and act like a woman who has not a care in the world.

There has been no art making to speak of nearly a month now. Its left me wound fairly tight. I've been so tired that even picking up the knitting needles feels like a gargantuan task that I just can't face. So five days of imposed art making is just what I need to snap myself back from the insanity I've been submerged in.

My weekend was slightly more productive this week because I didn't work yesterday, which means I got to rest a bit today and now feel slightly human. So here's a little random of the (boring) things I've done:

1) Dooley got groomed. He was quite wooley. When he laid on the sofa next to me the evening before we took him in for his hair-do (we love to taunt him and say "Doo is getting a do!" Yes, we are that simple...), I was making little mohawks out of the fur on his tummy. It was clearly time. Here he demonstrates his intense appreciation for his cookies.

2) I soda ash soaked fifteen yards of fabric in preparation for Kerr's class at Fabrications. I'm either insanely optimistic, completely out of touch or have just jinxed myself into a huge creative block by planning on bringing this much fabric. It remains to be seen. All I do know is that it will be a 100% guarantee that I will get into a frantic creative groove if I only bring a few yards. I don't think my classmates would appreciate me stripping off my clothing so I could print on them so consider it a public service that I'm bringing too much fabric.

3) I cleaned out my car. You may consider this mundane and unimportant but you have no idea what a big feat this is. For some reason, I feel the need to take various things for rides with me all over the place. Perhaps its so I don't feel quite so alone on the 2+ hours a day of commuting I have to do. It was like an archageolcial dig pulling everything out.

I have a Chevy HHR, which is a kick ass vehicle for hauling lots of stuff. They don't look like they can hold a crazy amount of things but I'm fairly confident I could squeeze a llama, a sheep and a couple mountain goats in there all at the same time. Which is good because next saturday it will be hauling an exhibit and two people with class supplies and enough things to keep them occupied for a week during the retreat. I love Kate and don't want to have to strap her to the roof for the ride up so I figured I should clean out my car.

4) I'm enjoying the cold wet weather. I love it. I hate summer (perhaps I am part vampire) so the fact that it is cool and damp and overcast suits me just fine.

I have a foyer full of artwork to unpack for this year's Breaking Traditions exhibit. I plan to chip away at that this evening but I'm thinking its unlikely I'll get through it before I leave for Fabrications. If my work schedule keeps going the way it has for the past month, I'm doomed to another week of coming home at 8 or 9 at night.

If the week is quiet again, know that I plan to drag you along with me to the retreat. A full week of craziness will be perfect blog food.

Perspective skews even the most common things. Stand a little taller, straighten your back to its limit, lean far enough forward to look over the edge and you’ll begin to see things in a different light. My mind steps lightly around the edges of what it would be like to be smaller, to see things from a different level. If I move too quickly, I may disturb it, may shake loose its magic.

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (You can view Year One of the project here and the gallery for this year here.)

20 August 2009

Oh hey, guess what? I remember my password for logging into Blogger. Was a bit worried there since it seems like I never make my way over here anymore. Know that I am not pleased about that (I dream about the blog and my neglect of it) and am planning to get back to blogging.

16 August 2009

It is a side of me that has been place in reservation for the moment. No time, no energy, no pull can drag me from the restraints of my current life back into the shelter of this place. My Muse stirs inside me, angry and sullen, pushing hard against me, asking me for things that I cannot give. A countdown has begun to the time when everything will shift hard, a time when I will seek solace from Her.

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (You can view Year One of the project here and the gallery for this year here.)

09 August 2009

1) To my fellow bloggers on the other side of the country, you are far too generous. We are sweltering in the triple digits (which I don't think should happen unless you live near a desert) with smothering humidity. You really could have kept this nasty weather to yourselves, really, we wouldn't have minded.

2) Dooley demonstrated tonight that there is no length he won't go to to obtain pizza crust. Even if it includes hopping up onto the sofa, climbing onto the end table and attempting to swipe said crust off the plate. Luckily his sister has quick reflexes - maybe not for him but it certainly saved me from chasing him across the house to get it back.

3) While sitting on the floor today sorting and unpacking artwork for exhibits, a centipede approximately three miles long and the color of red warpaint ran straight at me and attempted to rip my throat out. Luckily, the stapler was sitting next to me and my foe was easily crushed with three swift blows (it took three due to the carpet, the little bugger bounced back the first two times). Unfortunately, I did not pay attention to where I grabbed my weapon and I discovered that staplers do not discriminate between stapling paper or fingers. It is happy to do either.

4) I watched the movie The Reader today and was pleasantly surprised that it did not trash the book. Kate Winslet was quite good in it.

5) Today I washed fifteen yards of fabric in anticipation of my class with Kerr Grabowski at Fabrications. Its only three weeks away. I'm totally beside myself with glee and can't wait to flee from work.

6) If you could start your entire work career over with, what would you choose now that you know everything that you know?

7) Regis Philbin freaks me out.

8) I think this is a stellar idea and once I have my brain back to myself, I may give it a shot.

9) I know it sucks for kids (and teachers) that school is approaching quickly but I have a sick addiction to office supplies and the beginning of school produces the most innovative kinds. Is it wrong that I like to wander the aisles of Office Max this time of year just for fun?

That's all I've got. Sorry for the spotty blog posting. Work is off the hook at the moment but it will calm down in a few weeks. Thanks for hanging in there with me...

Choosing a new life is not so much about making plans but more about taking a step off the ledge without hesitation. My future stretches out in long wobbly lines ahead of me, unclear, bursting with options. The ends of my nerves are raw and exposed, worn through with the upheaval of it all. All that remains now is finding the strength to move forward, to step onto the tracks and let fate pull me to where I need to be.

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (You can view Year One of the project here and the gallery for this year here.)

03 August 2009

There's been a shift in they way I'm approaching things for the next few months. My schedule is packed down to the second so I'm removing the pressure to produce artwork (beyond knitting) and writing.

My mind is too full to think of anything beyond what needs to be done in the immediate moment and now that I've decided to just let things be for the next eight or so weeks, life feels a little less difficult. Everything that is on my plate is totally doable, just need to not freak out at the sheer volume of it. (Heh, remind me I said that when I exit my current zen state of mind...)

Dooley was not pleased when he saw that I was uploading his wet bath photo. (You can make those bigger by clicking on it.) His bathtub is the laundry room sink - yet another reason why I enjoy having a small doggie.

So I'll be around and still blogging but I am pretty confident that there won't be a lot of new artwork from me for a little bit. Fabrications is in roughly four weeks and there is much to do to get ready for my class with Kerr Grabowski and to get Blurred Boundaries in order. But its the light at the end of the tunnel - bring it on!

02 August 2009

The skew of the first three steps reflects the constant struggle, narrow on one end and opening into a large sigh on the opposite side. Its how most new endeavors begin, full of tension and uncertainty before exploding into its full potential. The even rhythm below hammers out the execution and sees it through to the end.

Where I Stand Sunday is an ongoing photo essay examining the different places I spend my life standing. Too often we take for granted the everyday places we spend our lives walking on. The ground we tread on has its own stories to tell. (You can view Year One of the project here and the gallery for this year here.)

01 August 2009

So I was flipping through my calendar for this month and September and noticing something very distinct...you can split my activities neatly into two things: (1) work and (2) fiber art.

Seems that's pretty much all I do.

I'm not complaining about number 2 in the least but its definitely moved far beyond hobby for me. Why else would I get up at 7am on a saturday morning so I could head out to a library to hang an exhibit?

After that I toddled off to do the mundane living type tasks (groceries, laundry, banking, blah) and came home to this:

This is week 2 of deliveries for exhibits. Doesn't look as bad as week 1 you say? Well, I took the picture after removing nine priority mail boxes from the shot (I'm not kidding). I unpacked those tonight and will tackle these tomorrow. Lots of good stuff coming in.

One of the boxes contained this:

This lovely yarn will hopefully transform itself into this at some point. Although I hear tell that means I have to actually knit it and not just daydream about it in order for it to actually happen. I need to educate myself a bit more about adjusting (and deciphering, for that matter) the pattern so it fits me in the end. If I knit the one that fits my bust it won't fit my butt. And if I knit the one that fits my butt I'll have to stuff my bra. So obviously I need to spend some more time on that one.

I really like this pattern. So I'm determined to figure it out...(ignore the sobbing if it should get to that point)...

I chased Dooley around with my camera today making a little movie of him. Just to demonstrate how hard it is to get him to stick around it but I don't think I did it right because nothing downloaded when I plugged the camera into my laptop. Maybe its for the best...he started licking my toes and I squealed like a little girl so you probably wouldn't want to see that anyway. I'll try again later..

Tomorrow is more living type tasks (paying bills, cooking, washing Dooley dog (if I can catch him), blah) but I am determined at some point to sit down and watch this:

I splurged for the two disc set - one is the 3D version and one is the 2D version. I couldn't resist watching the little Russian mice circus in 3D again, LOVE this movie.

Oh what can I say? I feel like a total dud lately, been working way too many hours. The balance is way skewed toward the work portion of my life. But I'd prefer it to be more in the fiber. That'll change soon since Fabrications is coming up. I'm counting the days until I can submerge myself in nothing but art and not have to think about calculating clearances for rotating parts.

For a whole week.

And I get fed.

And the hotel cleans my room everyday.

How can you beat that?

So now I'm going to go meld into the sofa and stare at the TV. I've been into the X Files lately, picked up the first three season (they were on sale at Best Buy). They make me laugh a little because David Duchovny looks like he's twelve and the special effects are the worst but it still manages to creep me out. So I guess its effective. Must go watch more, good idea before going to bed, right?